Bellydance? Performed
Jun. 10th, 2006 09:15 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
thebratqueenShort version of today's performance? We were AWESOME!
Long version of today's performance?
So the first thing I've learned is that performances require hours of preparation per each second that you're on stage. But it was fun. I got there nice and early which gave us time to get some extra practice in, then get into our costumes. (Melodia pants, cholis, panel skirts, then tribal necklaces/bracelets/belts) I also had my hair up with flowers in it.
The school I'm with had the stage from 4-5. The street fair itself ended at 5. You can see how there was some concern that there'd be an audience at all.
But the crowd was good. I was busy trying to help some of the other dancers with costume changes and the like (while being very grateful that I didn't have a costume change 1) outdoors 2) behind a flimsy wooden screen and 3) on a SERIOUSLY windy day) so I didn't do a headcount. But there was no noticable lessening in the group until after our part of the performance, and I think that was due to the announcer having the mistaken impression that the Tribal bit was the finale.
It was an understandable mistake though because we were AWESOME. The crowd loved us. I think we had a somewhat unfair advantage due to the musice choice, to be fair. There was a DJ there and in the time between the previous school (which had step-dancing) and our school taking the stage, he played Kanye West and Sean Paul, and for the most part this was a crowd that could get into that kind of music. So when you go from that to Flamenco, which had a soundtrack played by two old guys on guitars, no matter how good the Flamenco is (which it was, in spite of the wind that tried to rip their shawls off) it's a bit of an emotional let down.
Then you get to us, in our funky costumes, and cue up the Punjabi MC - well the crowd's going to vibe to that a bit more, I think. Plus we were different and high-energy so I think it came off more like an energetic finale. Go out with a bang, as it were.
The crowd was good. There were no hecklers, which I'd been worried about. The last thing you want is somebody mistaking you for strippers. There were folks there of all ages and everybody seemed to like us. Possibly the cutest moment is when we came out on stage and I heard one kid say to another "Ohhh, they're like Shakira!"
After us was tango, which sadly had a much smaller audience due to the assumption that we were the last act, then salsa which got as much if not more applause than we did, though again it was high energy and also the actual finale, so I'm assuming those were both factors. Also the salsa folks invited people to join them with the dancing so it was more of a crowd participation kind of thing.
When it was over the DJ played some more music for everyone to enjoy, and my tribal leader and I started having silly improv fun to "All things just keep getting better" 'cause how do you not boogie down to the Fab Five theme?
We'd also been given sunflowers as a congrats for the performace, so the two of us started balancing them on our heads and dancing with them like they were swords.
After which it was changing, grabbing a celebratory dinner, getting home, soaking myself in a hot bath because did I mention the wind? And that it was frikkin' COLD out there? And here I am.
So yay!!! =)
Long version of today's performance?
So the first thing I've learned is that performances require hours of preparation per each second that you're on stage. But it was fun. I got there nice and early which gave us time to get some extra practice in, then get into our costumes. (Melodia pants, cholis, panel skirts, then tribal necklaces/bracelets/belts) I also had my hair up with flowers in it.
The school I'm with had the stage from 4-5. The street fair itself ended at 5. You can see how there was some concern that there'd be an audience at all.
But the crowd was good. I was busy trying to help some of the other dancers with costume changes and the like (while being very grateful that I didn't have a costume change 1) outdoors 2) behind a flimsy wooden screen and 3) on a SERIOUSLY windy day) so I didn't do a headcount. But there was no noticable lessening in the group until after our part of the performance, and I think that was due to the announcer having the mistaken impression that the Tribal bit was the finale.
It was an understandable mistake though because we were AWESOME. The crowd loved us. I think we had a somewhat unfair advantage due to the musice choice, to be fair. There was a DJ there and in the time between the previous school (which had step-dancing) and our school taking the stage, he played Kanye West and Sean Paul, and for the most part this was a crowd that could get into that kind of music. So when you go from that to Flamenco, which had a soundtrack played by two old guys on guitars, no matter how good the Flamenco is (which it was, in spite of the wind that tried to rip their shawls off) it's a bit of an emotional let down.
Then you get to us, in our funky costumes, and cue up the Punjabi MC - well the crowd's going to vibe to that a bit more, I think. Plus we were different and high-energy so I think it came off more like an energetic finale. Go out with a bang, as it were.
The crowd was good. There were no hecklers, which I'd been worried about. The last thing you want is somebody mistaking you for strippers. There were folks there of all ages and everybody seemed to like us. Possibly the cutest moment is when we came out on stage and I heard one kid say to another "Ohhh, they're like Shakira!"
After us was tango, which sadly had a much smaller audience due to the assumption that we were the last act, then salsa which got as much if not more applause than we did, though again it was high energy and also the actual finale, so I'm assuming those were both factors. Also the salsa folks invited people to join them with the dancing so it was more of a crowd participation kind of thing.
When it was over the DJ played some more music for everyone to enjoy, and my tribal leader and I started having silly improv fun to "All things just keep getting better" 'cause how do you not boogie down to the Fab Five theme?
We'd also been given sunflowers as a congrats for the performace, so the two of us started balancing them on our heads and dancing with them like they were swords.
After which it was changing, grabbing a celebratory dinner, getting home, soaking myself in a hot bath because did I mention the wind? And that it was frikkin' COLD out there? And here I am.
So yay!!! =)
